Vitarel is a three-year long project that integrates over 30 specialists and artisans from solar technology, smart home technology, sustainability engineering, through to architecture, and landscape design.
High-tech specialists have worked alongside local artisans and craftspeople who continue the traditions of local SW rural French buildings.
Vitarel is a harmonious blend of local building craftsmanship and tradition with the most advanced building technology and environmental standards.
The property consists of three buildings, a house, a cottage and a design studio and a modern swimming pool. Externally, the three main buildings are consistent with the regional architecture, but behind the familiar rural French buildings is an advanced smart home that is fully powered by the sun.
The smart home technology is based on the KNX, an open standard for commercial and domestic building automation. The KNX platform manages Vitarel’s energy, lighting, HVAC, the security system, as well as audio and video. Sensors track weather patterns to automatically irrigate the land when needed, and they control exterior lighting based on occupancy and time of day.
The Smart home technology makes the property easy to manage while conserving energy. Why heat and light a room when there is no one in it? The entire building and all its systems can be controlled locally or from across the world.
The modern, high-tech pool is covered with semi-translucent bi-faced solar panels that provide over 100% of the energy required to run all the systems on the property. Excess energy is sold back to the grid and a series of lithium-Ion batteries provide reserve power for 48 hours.